12 replies to this topic

[notcrazydaisy]

I just came across this website early this morning, and am surprised to see all the people on here with stories of how difficult it has been to get off this drug. I have considered quitting for a while, and halfheartedly attempted it once only to get back on the next day due to dizziness and disorientation. I'm going to give it another shot. Any encouragement and support would be appreciated. Thanks and God bless!

[Ella]

Hi Daisy,just take it slow 5mg per month if needed this will cause you the least pain. Good luck.

[notcrazydaisy]

Hi Daisy,just take it slow 5mg per month if needed this will cause you the least pain. Good luck.

Thanks Ella, hopefully it won't be too bad!

[Annamae51]

I just came across this website early this morning, and am surprised to see all the people on here with stories of how difficult it has been to get off this drug. I have considered quitting for a while, and halfheartedly attempted it once only to get back on the next day due to dizziness and disorientation. I'm going to give it another shot. Any encouragement and support would be appreciated. Thanks and God bless!

I stopped working in 2003 due to RA. I was given Cymbalta about 8 years ago. I had already been on an anti depressant but since I also suffer from Fibromyalgia, my new RA doctor thought the Cymbalta would better help with all the pain I was having. I use to call Cymbalta my "mood stabilizer" since it seemed to keep me on an even keel - and I seemed to be more "content" while on it. After all these years (I am now a 61 years old female), I decided to get off it. I went from 60 mg every evening, to 30 mg every evening for six months. This past June I noticed I was feeling more "flu-like" but did not contribute it to the reduction in the Cymbalta, but the unexpected hot, humid New England weather. In the beginning of July I stopped taking Cymbalta completely. I have had flu-like symptoms all summer. I'm very sore all over (Fibromyalgia???) and my joints are stiffer than usual. Perhaps Cymbalta was helping with all this pain I'm now experiencing. I don't know. I have no intentions of going back on Cymbalta but I really want to start feeling better. I'm tired all the time, have a terrible cough (allergies???) and headaches for the past two months. The pain is the worst. Every part of my body hurts and, yes, it does make me depressed. I'm taking 10 mg of Ambien at night so I can get a good night sleep and I wake up and get out of bed every morning by 8am. I'm trying to stay active even with the pain because I know sitting around will just not help. I'm doing Yoga in a chair and I'm out every day trying to tend to my gardens as well as running errands. I'm thinking about going on a gluten-free diet to see if that makes a difference with the pain. It's very, very hard and I just want the pain to go away. Did the Cymbalta help my Fybromyalgia so much that I'm only experiencing so much pain because I stopped taking it or is this all part of the withdrawal of Cymbalta? I saw my PC dr last week and he suggested allergy meds with Sudafed, cough meds and put me on Amoxicillen since I'm also taking Methotrexate for my RA (and the drug suppressing my immune system). However, I feel no different with the antibiotic so I don't think that's the problem. Are any of you former Cymbalta users suffering from Fibromyalgia?

[tiredofmeds]

Hi
I am just starting to take myself off of Cymbalta this week. I am taking my regular 60 mgs. but now, every other day instead of daily.
I do have some "zaps" that I have experienced before coming off of Paxil years ago.
My brother told me about a natural herb that I am trying to help with the side effects called "L-Theanine".
After doing a lot of reading about these I am now taking 1.. 200mg every 6 hours and so far not too bad.

Has anyone else heard of these ? L-Theanine ???

[tiredofmeds]

Hi
I am just starting to take myself off of Cymbalta this week. I am taking my regular 60 mgs. but now, every other day instead of daily.
I do have some "zaps" that I have experienced before coming off of Paxil years ago.
My brother told me about a natural herb that I am trying to help with the side effects called "L-Theanine".
After doing a lot of reading about these I am now taking 1.. 200mg every 6 hours and so far not too bad.

Has anyone else heard of these ? L-Theanine ???

[anxiousannie]

Daisy,

It took me over 3 months to wean myself off Cybalata, probably longer than that if I count the times I went back on it because the side effects were just too much ( I tried the every other day method and it was not working). Someone suggested taking the capsule apart and taking some of the beads out. What I did was moisten the tip of my finger and remove the beads that stuck, then putting the cap back together and taking it like that. I did that for about a month, then I did the finger tip thing twice for a month and so on until there were only a few beads left in the cap. This seemed to work for me, but even so I completely stopped taking it the first week of July and still felt the brain zaps, although not nearly as bad, they were tolerable. Now I am feeling the all over body aches and joint pain, this has been happening for about a week now. I am not totally sure this is a result of the cymbalta but I can not think of any other reason for this. It feels as if I have a fever but I don't. However the brain zaps are gone!! I know it can take as long as three months for these meds to take full effect in your body, so it stands to reason they can take as long to clear your system as well. Hope this helps you.

[Heartfeathers]

I stopped working in 2003 due to RA. I was given Cymbalta about 8 years ago. I had already been on an anti depressant but since I also suffer from Fibromyalgia, my new RA doctor thought the Cymbalta would better help with all the pain I was having. I use to call Cymbalta my "mood stabilizer" since it seemed to keep me on an even keel - and I seemed to be more "content" while on it. After all these years (I am now a 61 years old female), I decided to get off it. I went from 60 mg every evening, to 30 mg every evening for six months. This past June I noticed I was feeling more "flu-like" but did not contribute it to the reduction in the Cymbalta, but the unexpected hot, humid New England weather. In the beginning of July I stopped taking Cymbalta completely. I have had flu-like symptoms all summer. I'm very sore all over (Fibromyalgia???) and my joints are stiffer than usual. Perhaps Cymbalta was helping with all this pain I'm now experiencing. I don't know. I have no intentions of going back on Cymbalta but I really want to start feeling better. I'm tired all the time, have a terrible cough (allergies???) and headaches for the past two months. The pain is the worst. Every part of my body hurts and, yes, it does make me depressed. I'm taking 10 mg of Ambien at night so I can get a good night sleep and I wake up and get out of bed every morning by 8am. I'm trying to stay active even with the pain because I know sitting around will just not help. I'm doing Yoga in a chair and I'm out every day trying to tend to my gardens as well as running errands. I'm thinking about going on a gluten-free diet to see if that makes a difference with the pain. It's very, very hard and I just want the pain to go away. Did the Cymbalta help my Fybromyalgia so much that I'm only experiencing so much pain because I stopped taking it or is this all part of the withdrawal of Cymbalta? I saw my PC dr last week and he suggested allergy meds with Sudafed, cough meds and put me on Amoxicillen since I'm also taking Methotrexate for my RA (and the drug suppressing my immune system). However, I feel no different with the antibiotic so I don't think that's the problem. Are any of you former Cymbalta users suffering from Fibromyalgia?

All that you describe is withdrawals! The drug causes this to make you get back on it! Don't do it. Hang in there. It DOES get better. I have fibro and was on the poison for almost 9 years. I am now almost 90 days completely cymbalta free!! I feel better than in years!

[Heartfeathers]

Hi
I am just starting to take myself off of Cymbalta this week. I am taking my regular 60 mgs. but now, every other day instead of daily.
I do have some "zaps" that I have experienced before coming off of Paxil years ago.
My brother told me about a natural herb that I am trying to help with the side effects called "L-Theanine".
After doing a lot of reading about these I am now taking 1.. 200mg every 6 hours and so far not too bad.

Has anyone else heard of these ? L-Theanine ???

Do NOT take cymbalta on alternating days!! The half life of Cymbalta is not long enough. If you want relief , take 1/2 the doseage every 12 hours. Trust me on this .. Not good!

[FibroLady]

I am a fibro sufferer that was also put on this drug for my pain/anxiety/depression. At this point, after 6 years of taking it, my life has ZERO life. I'm a blob. I gained weight & even though I work 3 days a week (sometimes 4), I sleep about 12 hours a night on my days off. I wake at 2 PM. It's rediculous.

Since I DO work, I need to wean off of this VERY slowly because I can't afford to miss work. I need to know the best way to do it. Someone spoke of removing the beads. Do you count how many are in there to decide how many is a mg? (Someone also said go down 5 mg a month, until you are done.) Is that the best method?

I can't go cold turkey because I can't work & feel the way everyone says they feel. I work 9-10 hour days, and, work helping people all day. I can NOT function with the side effects listed. I'd rather stay on Cymbalta & have the side effects I have now. That's a desperate thing to say & feel.

[FibroLady]

P.S.

Everyone PLEASE be careful when taking "natural supplements" to replace RX meds. They can cause worse effects, or, interact with prescription drugs. My husband almost died from a drug and "natural" pill interaction. Ask your doctor, or a pharmacist. It is NOT worth you losing your life by using these supplements.

[tiredofmeds]

Do NOT take cymbalta on alternating days!! The half life of Cymbalta is not long enough. If you want relief , take 1/2 the doseage every 12 hours. Trust me on this .. Not good!

Thank you..after a few days of that I couldn't take it anymore. I felt just nasty. I remembered that I still had a few Paxil left just sitting in my cabinet. ..so I took a few and cut them in half. Much better result. It's been nearly a week on that dosage and the "zaps" are a lot better. I will be cutting down this dosage later this week again by half.( 1/4 of a Paxil) and then hopefully I will be finished.
Wish me luck !!!
I will post again next week, and keep you updated on how it's going.

[Ablesugar]

Im at thirty mg. To half the dosage are you just pulling the pill apart and dumping half of it or is there a more exact method?

edit: After doing more reading I saw that people are actually counting the little beads in the pills, and figuring out how many beads=mg.
Im glad my close up vision isnt blurry since my longer range vision has gone to heck since I have been on it .